Everyone is welcome here at United Reformed Church Southside Cluster
URC Daily Devotion 17th September
LORD, who may stay within your tent, your sacred dwelling-place? And who upon your holy hill may live before your face?
Whoever walks a blameless path, who acts in righteousness, And who will always from the heart sincerely truth express.
He casts no slur on anyone nor does his neighbour wrong; He has no spite within his heart or slander on his tongue.
He honours those who fear the LORD; the worthless he’ll despise. He keeps the oath which he has sworn, however high the price.
He lends his money at no charge; no bribe can he endure. Those who behave in life like this will always stand secure.
You can hear a Free Church congregation sing this to the tune Graefenerg here.
Reflection
We perhaps expect Psalms to be emotional, praising and lamenting and expressing our human feelings. Psalm 15 is more practical, offering us wisdom and talking to us today about our walk with God, that ever-present theme of discipleship.
Who can live in God’s tent, on his holy hill? For us today, this isn’t a question about a geographical place, but a way of life, of discipleship and nearness to God. A way of life lived with integrity, a journey walked in the way.
Our psalm gives us some pointers on discipleship:
Speaking the truth, keeping our promises.
Loving our neighbour, avoiding gossip.
Spending wisely, not allowing money to cloud our decisions
But this isn’t a list of things we need to tick off to get our names on the list for that holy hill. It is God who creates these qualities in us. We have been made into disciples through God’s grace, and he invites us to walk the way on his holy hill.
This is a pretty wonderful assurance, in that last line, that if we walk with God in discipleship, if we let God create those qualities in us, we can be confident that we will stand secure in our relationship with God.
Lord, We give thanks for the invitation to walk the way with you. Help us to step out with integrity, so that those that witness our walking will want to walk with us. Help us to treat those we meet with respect, o be trustworthy travellers of the way, attracting others to closer relationship with you. Amen.
Today’s Writer
Jo Clare-Young is an ordinand at Westminster College and member of Cuxton URC in Kent.
